Devanagari
कृष्णवर्णं त्विषाकृष्णं साङ्गोपाङ्गास्त्रपार्षदम् ।
यज्ञै: सङ्कीर्तनप्रायैर्यजन्ति हि सुमेधस: ॥ ३२ ॥
Verse text
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁ
sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
yajṣaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyair
yajanti hi su-medhasaḥ
Synonyms
kṛṣṇa
—
varṇam — repeating the syllables kṛṣ-ṇa
;
tviṣā
—
with a luster
;
akṛṣṇam
—
not black (golden)
;
sa
—
aṅga — along with associates
;
upa
—
aṅga — servitors
;
astra
—
weapons
;
pārṣadam
—
confidential companions
;
yajṣaiḥ
—
by sacrifice
;
saṅkīrtana
—
prāyaiḥ — consisting chiefly of congregational chanting
;
yajanti
—
they worship
;
hi
—
certainly
;
su
—
medhasaḥ — intelligent persons .
Translation
In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The intelligent people worship the Lord, black in color, but shining with brilliance, who is accompanied by his associates, weapons, major and minor limbs, chiefly through chanting.
Those who understand the confidential meaning of scriptures worship the Lord who is black internally and golden externally, who is accompanied by his associates, weapons, major and minor limbs, chiefly through chanting.
In the case of various Kali-yugas the avatāra’s color is black. However, this color is not gross: it shines (akṛṣṇam) with brilliance (tviṣā) like a sapphire. In one particular Kali-yuga it is black but also not black (akṛṣṇam), but gaura or yellow, shining externally, since the remaining color in Garga’s description after mentioning white, red and śyāma is pīta, yellow. This avatāra is internally black and externally yellow or golden. Another meaning of kṛṣṇa-varṇa is “he speaks about the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa.” The phrase sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam has the same meaning for both the normal Kali-yuga avatāras and the covered form. The intelligent people worship this form by the path of service (yajṣaiḥ) predominated by saṅkīrtana. Only those who have splendid intelligence (sumedhasaḥ) and who understand the real meaning of the statement of Garga tathā pīta idānīṁ kṛṣṇatāṁ gataḥ (SB 10.8.13) and Prahlāda’s words channaḥ kalau (SB 7.938) and the words of the previous verse kalav api tathā śṛṇu, worship the form of Lord Caitanya and not others.
Purport
This same verse is quoted by Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in the
Caitanya-caritāmṛta,
Ādi-līlā,
Chapter Three, verse 52. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda has given the following commentary on this verse. “This text is from
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(11.5.32)
. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has explained this verse in his commentary on the
Bhāgavatam
known as the
Krama-sandarbha,
wherein he says that Lord Kṛṣṇa also appears with a golden complexion. That golden Lord Kṛṣṇa is Lord Caitanya, who is worshiped by intelligent men in this age. That is confirmed in
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
by Garga Muni, who said that although the child Kṛṣṇa was blackish, He also appears in three other colors — red, white and yellow. He exhibited His white and red complexions in the Satya and Tretā ages respectively. He did not exhibit the remaining color, yellow-gold, until He appeared as Lord Caitanya, who is known as Gaurahari.
“Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that
kṛṣṇa-varṇam
means Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.
Kṛṣṇa-varṇam
and Kṛṣṇa Caitanya are equivalent. The name
Kṛṣṇa
appears with both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya Kṛṣṇa. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He always engages in describing Kṛṣṇa and thus enjoying transcendental bliss by chanting and remembering His name and form. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appears as Lord Caitanya to preach the highest gospel.
Varṇayati
means ‘utters’ or ‘describes.’ Lord Caitanya always chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and describes it also, and because He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, whoever meets Him will automatically chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and later describe it to others. He injects one with transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which merges the chanter in transcendental bliss. In all respects, therefore, He appears before everyone as Kṛṣṇa, either by personality or by sound. Simply by seeing Lord Caitanya one at once remembers Lord Kṛṣṇa. One may therefore accept Him as
viṣṇu-tattva.
In other words, Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.
“Sāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadam
further indicates that Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa. His body is always decorated with ornaments of sandalwood and with sandalwood paste. By His superexcellent beauty He subdues all the people of the age. In other descents the Lord sometimes used weapons to defeat the demoniac, but in this age the Lord subdues them with His all-attractive figure as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that His beauty is His
astra,
or weapon, to subdue the demons. Because He is all-attractive, it is to be understood that all the demigods lived with Him as His companions. His acts were uncommon and His associates wonderful. When He propagated the
saṅkīrtana
movement, He attracted many great scholars and
ācāryas,
especially in Bengal and Orissa. Lord Caitanya is always accompanied by His best associates like Lord Nityānanda, Advaita, Gadādhara and Śrīvāsa.
“Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī cites a verse from the Vedic literature that says that there is no necessity of performing sacrificial demonstrations or ceremonial functions. He comments that instead of engaging in such external, pompous exhibitions, all people, regardless of caste, color or creed, can assemble together and chant Hare Kṛṣṇa to worship Lord Caitanya.
Kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇam
indicates that prominence should be given to the name Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya taught Kṛṣṇa consciousness and chanted the name of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, to worship Lord Caitanya, everyone should together chant the
mahā-mantra
— Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. To propagate worship in churches, temples or mosques is not possible because people have lost interest in that. But anywhere and everywhere, people can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Thus worshiping Lord Caitanya, they can perform the highest activity and fulfill the highest religious purpose of satisfying the Supreme Lord.
“Śrīla Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, a famous disciple of Lord Caitanya, said: ‘The principle of transcendental devotional service having been lost, Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya has appeared to deliver again the process of devotion. He is so kind that He is distributing love of Kṛṣṇa. Everyone should be attracted more and more to His lotus feet, as humming bees are attracted to a lotus flower.’”
The incarnation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu is also described in the
Śrī Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma,
which appears in Chapter 189 of the
Dāna-dharma-parva
of
Mahābhārata.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has quoted this reference as follows:
suvarṇa-varṇo hemāṅgo varāṅgaś candanāṅgadī.
“In His early pastimes He appears as a householder with a golden complexion. His limbs are beautiful, and His body, smeared with the pulp of sandalwood, seems like molten gold.” He has also quoted,
sannyāsa-kṛc chamaḥ śānto niṣṭhā-śānti-parāyaṇaḥ:
“In His later pastimes He accepts the
sannyāsa
order, and He is equipoised and peaceful. He is the highest abode of peace and devotion, for He silences the impersonalist nondevotees.”